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Sixty Seconds with Sonni de Soto

Sonni de Soto is the author of Give To You, the smoking-hot first publication of Deep Desires Press, which comes out Tuesday, January 3! Click here to pre-order your copy.

Here is our sixty second interview with Sonni de Soto:

Why do you like writing erotica / erotic romance?

Love and sex are just so universal; everyone has and will be touched by them at some point in their lives. So you’d think that we’d know how they work, right? And we think we do. We love to think of ourselves as or think we can become experts, but we can’t be. Because every relationship is different, every person is different. Which means every love story we tell is a new discovery. Exploring that endless diversity and all the ways and times our “expertise” fails us is really fun.

Which book are you embarrassed to admit that you love?

I don’t think I have any story-shame left in me. I am an unashamed literary trash lover. Every genre I love, from erotica to comic books, from sci-fi to children’s literature, has been trash-talked by someone. But, if I love it—if the story spoke to me—why should I care what anyone else thinks?

How did you meet the love of your life?

In my entire life, in every relationship I have ever been in, I’ve never had a meet-cute that I could comfortably share at family events. From drunken hookups that turned into more to fetish-site online dating to getting involved while one of us was still technically in a relationship, none of them had nice, traditional, rom-com starts. But each was incredibly special and gave me experiences I could never have had otherwise. As a culture, we romanticize the beginnings and ends of relationships but, to truly appreciate them, we need to judge them in their entirety.

Do you believe in love at first sight?

I don’t want to discount anyone’s experiences, but thinking you can judge love with just your eyes sounds like a good way to find yourself in relationships sure to blindsight you.

Do you believe in soul mates?

Just one person in all creation that was perfectly made just for you; where’s the fun in that? That sounds more convenient than romantic. I think the most romantic thing about love is that it isn’t perfect and doesn’t always fit or work exactly the way we want it to but, when the relationship is worth it, you do your best to make the it worth it for your partner and, when they’re worth it, your partner does the same for you. I’ll take imperfect effort over perfect convenience any day.

Tell us about Give to You.

Brides are supposed to be excited about their wedding days, right? But Peter Richards hasn’t been able to get his wife-to-be’s attention at all. He knows that Kat’s been swept up by the excitement of getting her first book published, but this is their wedding! When he tries to talk to her about it, they just end up fighting, leaving him wondering whether she cares about him at all.

Kat Valdez knows that she should be helping Peter with all the plans and preparations but, with time and pressure bearing down, it feels like being forced to choose between marrying the man of her dreams and achieving her lifelong aspiration. Upset over all this arguing, Kat packs up and leaves their sunny, coastal home to stay with her parents, hoping to find peace and answers in her snowy, hometown haven. She just needs a break. To think about their lives. About their future. And how—and if—they fit together in it.

Peter, while he understands her need for space, doesn’t need time to know that he wants Kat in his life. She might need a break, but his life won’t feel right until they’re back together again. So, with his toy bag in hand and a kinky plan in his head, he treks north, determined to convince her how cold and lonely life is apart by reminding her how hot they can get together.

What compelled you to write this story?

This story is all about trying to find a balance between all the competing factors in your life. When I’m in the middle of a story or project, I tend to get lost in it, letting it take over my entire life. Suddenly, all this time that I would usually happily give over to my job or my family or my friends or my partners is sucked up by my story. And, to be with me, that’s just something that you have to accept. A price of admission, as Dan Savage calls it. But I also recognize that it’s not my most attractive quality and, if I want to truly enjoy—to say nothing of keeping—all the wonderful things I love in my life, I need to consciously work to make time for all of them. This story is my celebration of that happy balance we all seem to be striving for.

What’s next for you?

I am currently working hard to finish my third Donovan’s Door novel as well as a slew of short stories within the series as well. Including, two stories that will appear in Coming Together’s new anthology Moving On, which will feature a story with Kat and Peter dealing with post-election fallout. To find out more about what I have going on, please visit sonnidesoto.blogspot.com and facebook.com/sonnidesotostories.